Music legend John Lennon is giving new meaning to the term “visionary” thanks to UK-based Adlens.

The variable-focus eyewear company, which launched its U.S. headquarters at Boston’s Lewis Wharf in September, has its sights set on increasing its brand awareness nationwide with a new glasses line modeled after the former Beatle’s distinctive “granny” frames.

“We’re just starting, but Lennon has given (Adlens) tremendous acceleration,” CEO Chairman Michael Ferrara told the Herald. “Once you can get it on someone’s face, it’s a wow.”

At least 50,000 pairs of John Lennon Collection glasses have been sold worldwide since their December debut, Ferrara said. The company’s fluid injection technology allows consumers to set their own prescriptions in seconds simply by twisting dials on the sides of the lenses.

The 8-year-old company’s Boston office handles sales, branding and shipping and will employ 10 workers by the end of the year, Ferrara said, adding Adlens chose the Hub as its U.S. base to better immerse itself in area technology and fashion.

“Most eyewear is made either in Italy or in Asia … but Boston had the design element,” he said. “Boston, through the jewelry business, had a tremendous infrastructure of designers and they grew into eyewear.”

Adlens has 65 full-time employees, and locations in Oxford, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Malaysia. The company also offers two other round-frame eyewear products online and at select stores — Emergensee and Hemisphere glasses, which sell for $39 and $59, respectively.

A company nonprofit, Vision for a Nation, also has partnered with the Rwandan Ministry of Health to distribute glasses to more than a million people in the African country, which lacks a sufficient number of optometrists, Ferrara said.

The growing success of the Lennon collection will pave the way for Adlens’ next U.S. “game changer,” officials said. The company is expected to unveil a $500 to $700 progressive lens replacement by year’s end that uses fluid compression technology to open up a broader view field for wearers.

“There are so many limitations in progressives. You can’t read in bed, you can’t watch TV in bed, your computers are a nightmare,” said Sue Creek, head of training for Adlens. “This is going to be the alternative.”

Even though Ferrara projected Adlens to be a?$500 million company over the next five years, he still encouraged consumers to visit an optometrist once a year for an eye exam.

“I would certainly support, and we do publicly, the fact that we want to work within the optometry community,” he said. “But there are circumstances where you need a pair of glasses right away and this is amazingly close to 20-20.”